Frames for roller chutes



Sept. 22, 1970 I M. B 3,529,706

FRAMES FOR ROLLER CHUTES Filed July 19. 1968 INVENTOF? M/CHEL H. BHU

ATT'Y.

United States Patent Int. Cl. nss 11/00 U.S. Cl. 193-3 4 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A roller chute for rolling elements having framesspaced intermittently along it and rolling and guiding rails of acertain shape made of stainless-steel and attached to the frames.

My invention relates to handling chutes used for the passage ofcylindrical articles from one location to another through the force ofgravity, and especially to chutes for cans which serve for the packagingof goods.

Ordinarily, chutes of this type are assembled from frames and guiderails. These guide rails are usually made of round bars or some otherheavy cross-section of ordinary steel material. Rails of this type havethe disadvantage that when they are assembled particular care isnecessary to avoid blockage of the chute due to breakage or becausefastening elements (for example, nuts, bolts, rivets) protrude into thechute. After a chute assembled of ordinary steel has been in disuse forsome time the rails rust and later when the chute is back in use andcans pass down over the corroded rails the cans are discolored bycontact with the rails and present an unsightly appearance.

An object of the present invention is to make a chute overcoming theobjections set forth above.

In brief, my invention comprises the improvement that the longitudinalrails are made of stainless-steel or other non-corrosive material inthin sections. The cross-section of each rail has at least one flat partfor attachment on one side to the adjacent frame and a wing the flatside protrudes toward the inside of the frame so that the cans orsimilar objects roll upon the surface of the wings or are guided bythem.

Other objects of the invention are more particularly set forth in thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a handling chute according to myinvention.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of my invention.

An embodiment of my invention is shown and represented in FIG. 1. Thechannel or chute is assembled and constructed as shown in FIG. 1 andeach of the channels or chutes is made up of rails of a predeterminedlength of about 8 feet. These rails are attached to frames, for example,end frames 1 and 2, and also attached to the rails are intermediateframes 3 of lighter construction than the end frames.

Looking now at the cross-section of FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 2, frames 1, 2,3 each have essentially the same cross-section. Lower rail sections 4and 5 are shown as an L section. These may be made in one piece or twoand are shown in one piece for easy assembly. Each of these double railsections has a horizontal flat element 8 and a vertical flat element 9attached to the lower and adjacent lateral sides of the frame by bolts10 and 11. Each of the flat elements 8 and 9 has at its ends a wingnumbered 12 and 13. Each of the wings is in the general shape of a Uwith suflicient depth so that the upper frame or crest line of the U issufiiciently far into the chute that the can in passing over this crestline does not contact the at- 'ice tachment bolts 10 and 11. In this waythe wings 12 of the lower branches of the elements 4 and 5 form arolling path or chute for cylindrical articles like the metal can 15shown in FIG. 2. The wings 13 of the vertical elements similarly definea guiding plane in the lateral direction.

The upper rail element 6 is essentially a flat central core 16 having atboth of its sides wing elements 17 and 18 which in part determine theupper limit of travel of the can.

Rails made in this fashion are rigid and are easily attached to theframes. All the heads of the bolts are at a distance outside of the areaof passage of the cans, yet are easily accessible. Since the materialsare of a nonoxidizing character, for example, stainless-steel, it willnot be necessary to polish the rails even if they have not been used fora long time.

As a variant the upper rail 6 may be replaced by two upper rails 24 and25 which respectively resemble the lower rails 4 and 5. These rails areshown in FIG. 2 by the dot-dash lines. In this case, the central rail 6is not employed. All the rails are uniform in type and guidance ofrolling objects is improved.

Another possible variation is the employment of rail 6 in the middle ofeach flat section of the frame. However, this construction is the leastfavorable from the point of view of structural rigidity.

What is claimed is:

1. A chute for the channeling of rolling elements comprising:

frame members spaced along the length of said chute,

rail members extending along the length of said chute,

attachment means holding said rail members to the inside of said framemembers,

said rail members being formed of thin non-corrosive material having thecross-sectional shape of a flat element with an integral wing protrudingtoward the inside of the chute and the rail and the protruding wingelement is in the shape of a U with one leg of said U being bent awayfrom said U and integal with said flat element, and the height of said Uis greater than the height of said attachment means whereby said rollingelements roll against and are guided by said wing elements.

2. A chute for the channeling of rolling elements as set forth in claim1 in which:

the fiat side of each rail member is attached along its length to aplurality of frame members.

3. A chute for the channeling of rolling elements as set forth in claim2, in which:

the flat element of each said rail member is attached to the flatelement of another member so as to form a double rail element wherebygreater ease of assembly is accomplished. 4. A chute for the channelingof rolling elements as set forth in claim 3 in which:

two said elongated double rail elements are mounted each at a lowercorner of said frame elements and one said elongated double rail elementis mounted at the center of the upper flat section of said frame wherebyrigidity is imparted to said chute.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,201,790 10/1916 Allen 193-412,800,211 7/ 1957 Madden. 3,325,131 6/1967 Englander et al. 193-383,389,771 6/1968 Sanders 193-41 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 193-25

